Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Jude 1:14

"And to these also Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied, saying, Behold, the Lord came with ten thousands of his holy ones," — Jude 1:14 (ASV)

Enoch, who “walked with God; then he was no more, because God took him away” (Genesis 5:21), is not specifically called “the seventh from Adam” in the OT. But in Ge 5 and 1 Chronicles 1:1–3, he is the seventh in order (counting Adam as the first). Jude here quotes the book of Enoch, the longest of the surviving Jewish pseudepigraphical writings and a work highly respected by many Jews and Christians. Those who wonder about the propriety of Jude’s quotation of a noncanonical book should note that he does not call it Scripture. Paul also quoted approvingly from noncanonical writers (1 Corinthians 15:33; Titus 1:12). Enoch’s prophecy does not give any startling new information but is simply a general description of the return of the Lord in judgment (cf. Dt 33:2; Daniel 7:10–14; Zechariah 14:3; Matthew 25:31).